Giants of Sardinia

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2020: October 3–10​2021: October 2–9Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates​The Bronze Age stone giants from Mont’e Prama are the wonder of Sardinia. Nearby we’ve found some giants of another kind: smaller in stature but brave and bold when defending their traditional food. Some will be familiar and some unexpected and bizarre, like the culurgiones you’ll get to make yourself. Don’t know what they are? Come find out. From bottarga to rice to saffron and peperoncino, your palate will expand to encompass a whole new world of flavours. You could even become a giant yourself. Really small group (maximum 10 people)​

Find out how grey mullet roe is salted and dried to become bottarga, a gourmet delicacy.

Visit a farmer who calls his farm a circular economy. He grows fruit and vegetables, rears animals, slaughters them on the farm, makes cheese, salumi, pasta, fresh fruit juices. A lesson in how to be profitable while staying true to your principles.

Become proficient at making culurgiones, potato-filled little works of art.

Try your hand at making a Slow Food Presidium cheese.

Eat like a Sardinian at our agriturismo where Giorgio creates his local cuisine with skill and love.

Archaeology & culture

During your visit to the megalithic Nuragic site of Barumini, learn about the life of the people whose culture and society survived from 1700 to 200 BC.

Encounter the sculptural giants of the Nuragic civilisation during a guided tour of the museum at Cabras.

Two brothers show you how they make gold filigree and coral jewellery.

We meet at Il Gallo Bianco Hotel, only a 15-minute taxi ride from the airport or a 5-minute walk from the station (frequent trains from the airport). Aperitivo and introduction to the tour on the terrace of the hotel. Dinner at Antonio and my favourite Slow Food osteria. It will be a stellar introduction to Sardinian cuisine: things with strange names you may or may not know, like pane carasau, fregula, bottarga and malloreddus.

Accommodation: Hotel Il Gallo Bianco | Meals: Dinner

Cagliari to San Vero Milis (Oristano)

Day 2: Sunday

​Today we meet our first giant. We head north from Cagliari to visit Barumini, a megalithic complex dating to the Bronze Age, one of the best preserved nuraghe on the island. Our guided tour takes us through the house foundations and massive towers. After a quick lunch, we visit the museum to see some of the artefacts found at the site. From here we continue to Agriturismo L’Orto at San Vero Milis in the province of Oristano, our home for the rest of the tour. Francesca welcomes us to her farm and her husband Giorgio cooks us a typical meal from this part of Sardinia. He’s such a good cook that we’re looking forward to four dinners here.

Accommodation: Agriturismo L'Orto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Monday

Giant number two today. Actually, it’s a whole family which believes fiercely in sustainable agriculture and preserving biodiversity. Since it’s olive harvest time, we’ll pick olives, and learn how to cure them in brine. You’ll have a bottle to take home with you to show off to your friends. We’ll also make Sardinian festive bread and taste their wine made with local varieties of grapes, one of which has been there for 3000 years. We lunch at the farm. Late afternoon we go to the provincial capital of Oristano to visit a delightful pair of brothers who make gold filigree and coral jewellery (credit cards are accepted!). Sightseeing and aperitivo before dinner at Trattoria Gino.

Accommodation: Agriturismo L'Orto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Tuesday

​Once you get your eye in, you see rice growing everywhere here. We visit farmer Marcello Stara in the midst of the rice harvest to find out how it’s cultivated, harvested, polished and, best of all, eaten. After a siesta, we go to find cheesemaker Giuseppe Sanna, who makes the Slow Food Presidium cheese casizolu from the milk of his own cows. You'll get to try your hand at forming the cheeses. The effervescent Pino Cossu introduced us to Giuseppe and he'll be there too with a cornucopia of local products including salumi (cured pork), pane carasau (crisp bread) and wine. Given Pino’s enthusiasm, this tasting could go on well into the night.

Accommodation: Agriturismo L'Orto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Wednesday

Today we go further afield to a sausage maker and his neighbour who cultivates saffron, peperoncino (chilli peppers) and oregano at Ussaramanna. You’re going to make Sardinian sausages under the guidance of Paolo Lilliu. They can be grilled and eaten right away or air dried like salami. We’re going to BBQ them at the farm of his friends the Picchedda's. Mamma Itria gives us a hands-on lesson making pardulas, saffron-flavoured cakes. Although the new crop of saffron won’t be ready until November, the peperoncino fields should be a sea of red. Back to our agriturismo for some down time before another delicious dinner prepared by Giorgio.​Accommodation: Agriturismo L'Orto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 6: Thursday

Today could be wild. We’re up to giant number eight, and Sandro Dessé has such a huge vision that one never knows quite where he’s going to lead us. He champions the circular economy, keeping everything in-house. He rears goats, sheep, pigs, cows, donkeys and horses. He grows fruit and vegetables. He has his own slaughterhouse, laboratory for cheese, one for salumi, a professional kitchen where he produces pasta to sell, a dining room that seats 250, four apartments he rents to tourists and a dinosaur park for children. The only things he hasn’t got round to yet are fish ponds and cereal cultivation. He has promised a tour of the farm, a lesson making culurgiones, a ravioli that looks like an ear of wheat, and lunch in that gigantic dining room. But who knows? If we don’t get co-opted to join his team, we’ll have some free time to visit Santa Catarina, a nuragic sacred well.

Accommodation: Agriturismo L'Orto | Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 7: Friday

Friday is fish day and we're off to Cabras on the coast. We're going to see Enrico Spanu who shows us the process for producing bottarga, salted grey mullet roe, which is up there with gourmet products like truffles, caviar and Pisan pine nuts. Cabras is also home to the nuragic warrior giant you see in the feature photo for this tour and several of his companions at arms. We have a private tour of the museum where you also see neolithic precursors of the nuragic civilisation and the cargo of a Roman shipwreck. Back at L'Orto, we've organised a farewell party to which we've invited musician and dancer Stefano Pinna and his friends to entertain us before we feast on porceddu, Sardinian roast piglet.

​Hi, I’m Antonio. I’m from Alghero in northern Sardinia, and I have been living in London 13 years. Since I have moved here, I have been working in the food business. I am a food importer, promoting and supporting Sardinian small family business in UK. I sell via influential London food markets and I am creating a wholesale network in order to sell to local delis, restaurants and food enterprises sharing the same food ethos and also integrating a new concept concerning gastronomic cultural travels with the help of Sardinian enterprises devoted to hospitality and food.

Erica Jarman

Following Heather’s careers as archaeologist, orchestra and artist manager and chef, she Italianised her name to Erica and came to Lucca to pursue her passion for traditional artisan food. Her tours, inspired by her infectious curiosity, open captivating new worlds to her guests.

Il Gallo Bianco, Cagliari

A family-run boutique hotel conveniently located in the centre of Cagliari three minutes from the station (with direct trains to the airport). ‘Gallo Bianco’ means white rooster which describes the tasteful modern decor. Immense rooftop terrace, good buffet breakfast, wifi in rooms, lift, friendly, efficient service. http://www.gallobiancocagliari.it/​​

​Agriturismo L'Orto, San Vero Milis (Oristano)

It’s the warm hospitality of Francesca Cubadda that strikes you at this family farm. Rooms are invitingly furnished and common areas are arranged for your comfort. You immediately feel welcome. The greatest asset is the restaurant where Giorgio Cubadda presides over the creation of his local cuisine. Every meal a feast! En suite bathrooms, hairdryers, swimming pool, wifi in common areas and sometimes in rooms. http://www.lorto.it/​

​Claim your 5% loyalty discount if you've booked a small group tour with us before.

Includes

Friendly knowledgeable English-speaking guide throughout your stay

7 nights welcoming, relaxing accommodation, en suite bathrooms

Local ground transportation for 8 days (includes one group transfer between meeting point and accommodation and one return after the tour). Please check with us before you book your travel to make sure it fits the tour schedule. Transfers at times other than those provided for the group will be at your own expense.

Daily continental breakfast, 6 lunches, 7 dinners

Guided visits and workshops with artisans, entrance fees

Does not include

Airfares

Travel and cancellation insurance (compulsory)

Wine and drinks other than those served with meals, additional meals

Personal expenses

Meeting point

Il Gallo Bianco hotel, Cagliari. Nearest airport: Cagliari Elmas, Sardinia (there are low-cost flights to Cagliari airport from international hubs outside Italy and from Rome and Milan among others). Please make your own way to Il Gallo Bianco hotel in Cagliari. The journey takes 12 minutes by train (€1.30) or 15 minutes by taxi (€25).

If you are flying from outside Europe, we suggest you arrive a couple of days early to recover from jet lag so you can fully enjoy your time with us. We are happy to advise about where to stay and eat and what to do before and after your tour.

Departure point​Transport will be provided to Cagliari Elmas airport after 9.00 am. It takes 1 hour 15 minutes from San Vero Milis. The earliest you can arrive at the airport is 10.30 am, which means a flight no earlier than noon. If you need to travel earlier, a taxi can be arranged at your own expense.​

Diet

Most dietary requirements can be accommodated as long as you tell us in advance. There is a space on the Booking Form for this information. Please bear in mind that the tour focuses on the art of choosing, cooking and eating good food. If your diet is very restricted, you may not get full enjoyment from it.​

Physical fitness

You must be fit enough to walk briskly on level farm tracks and stand for one or two hours during visits to producers and archaeological sites.​

Dress

Informal. Jeans or smart trousers are acceptable everywhere.

Weather in October

Weather is no longer average, but here’s what the statistics say:​13–23˚C / 55–74˚F; precipitation: 53 mm / 2.1 in​The itinerary is subject to change if necessary due to weather or agricultural conditions or other events outside our control.

I truly loved my time with you, and Sardinia was a joy to discover. Food absolutely outstanding, every mouthful. I will definitely book another trip; just a question of which one!! I want to do them all​...​Anne Hudson, UK, Giants of Sardinia, October 2019

Just a short note to say how much we enjoyed the Giants of Sardinia trip. It was a very special sort of tour, visiting so many artisans and being able not only to look at their wares, but to have hands on experience making bread, pasta, brined olives and sausages. We loved the food making and also the archeological excursions, the pipe players, the coral and filigree jewelry maker. And, let us not forget all those superb Sardinian meals! It was fun and so nice getting to know you and Antonio. Truly a memorable experience. We hope to see you again soon on another one of your tours or courses.​Stanze & Jim Joy, USA, Giants of Sardinia, October 2019

What an amazing in-depth experience of a little-visited part of Sardinia, full of Giants ancient and modern! We were warmly welcomed into the homes and businesses of passionate producers of olives, rice, cheese, sausages, myrtle berries and saffron. Every day was full of warmth, conviviality and food! Many thanks to Erica and Antonio for their research, introductions, translations and knowledge.​Hilary Barton & John Everett, UK, Giants of Sardinia, October 2018